What Fate Turned Out to be
by itachianimefan
Summary: I was trapped with no where to go. His nails clamped around my neck. I looked into his eyes to see then piercing into mine. Slowly the air escaped me. "First, you need to defeat me, Ryoma." His icy voice ecohed. I was once again trapped into darkness.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 1:

I got up; the cool stone floor shot a sudden chill up my bare feet. I shivered. This did not bother me; I had more important matters to determine, for instance, where am I? Looking around I couldn't tell. Nothing looked familiar in my mind.

It was so dark. Whether I closed my eyes or opened them, it made no different. Was I blind? Why? Why are these things happening? Maybe I should shout for help. Attentively, I opened my mouth only to find that no sound came out as well. I place my hands on my throat—there were a vibration so was I also deaf? My senses were slowly betraying me. What had happened last, I thought. Thinking carefully I tried to recall what had happened last. Yes, I remember, I was playing tennis and I must have pushed myself too hard. Then, am I unconscious or dead? I breathed in deeply, trying to recall any scent that might help, but all I smelt was the plain, musty air. No fragrance floated into my lungs.

Clearly this was nothingness, no scent, no sight, no sound. Like being locked in a room with not windows, no doors, no human interaction. Just nothingness. Well, I wasn't going to let that put me down! Stretching my hands out, I reached out to see if there was anything in front of me. Hearing a dull whoosh, I knew that nothing lay in my path. Forcing my feet to walk on the icy road, I moved slowly and silently. I couldn't tell where I was going or how far I had to go, I only knew that in order to escape this cape of darkness I needed to move further.

Time was only a word here. It meant nothing. My watch that I usually wore around my right wrist no longer rested there, just bare skin to which was ice cold—just like the rest of my body. Some time passed again. My feet were numb, also my face and the fingertips of my hands. Why was it so cold here? My breath was picking up its pace. I required more oxygen now, almost as if the air had suddenly gone. So many questions ran through my mind. What exactly was happening?

I wanted to go back. Back to wherever back was. Back home, back to my school Seishun Academy, back to anywhere, but here. And when I was about to give up, a dot of light flashed in front of me. So tiny, but its warmth was big. I wanted to reach out to it and wrap it around myself, but that was only a dream. Regaining my strength, I continued to walk on. Closer, and closer the light got. My mouth watered as if this light was the thing that I most desired. My hands were trembling with content. I was exploding with happiness!

At last the light broke through and my sight, smell and sound returned. Free at last. The room without windows and doors now had a sunroof made of glass. My feet and hand soaked up the light greedily. They wanted more and more and so, I remained on the same spot for quite a bit of time, absorbing all the warmth and light. I took the time to look at my surroundings. Everything looked different to what I was used to seeing. The trees were taller, the grass, the sun and even the light breeze that brushed my face felt different, not like the world that I was used to.

I turned back to find that the darkness was no longer there. The coldness was also gone. I turned back to see a faint figure in the distance and without thinking it through, I ran as fast as I could. The warm air cushioned gently in my lungs and the wind was whishing at my forehead. I couldn't help, but laugh out loud; I haven't felt this good in ages. As I approached the person, I realized that I was an elderly man. He wore a dark green cloak around his shoulders. Underneath he wore Capri navy pants, which was way too big for him. He turned to face me and his emerald eyes glared into my brown ones. His silver hair glistened in the sunlight. As he smiled he revealed his pearly white teeth.

"Young Ryoma, I was waiting for you." He spoke in a deep, stern voice. I stopped four feet in front of him and thought of a reply only to find that he spoke before I could. "Where am I, you ask in you head?" The old man spoke softly. "Well," He answered his own question. He reached into his robes to find a dirty pipe, lit it and placed it into his mouth. "That might be a very good question." He looked away from Ryoma as a puff of smoked left his mouth. "You are neither here or there, if I put it in riddle term. You are not on the place you would call Earth, and you are not on the other side, I would say you are in the middle." He chuckled as he pulled the pipe out again.

"The middle of where?" I said, looking puzzled.

"Well, young man, that's a very good question, but perhaps now isn't the best time for questions. Please follow me." He replied as he stretched out his hand.

"Wait-" I began.

"You play tennis I presume?" He interrupted. "Shall we play a game?"

"…Very well," I said. I didn't say anything else. I knew that I had to do what this man said or I wasn't going to get my questions answered. "Wait, what was your name?"

"The tennis court is over here." He said, ignoring my question. A bag lay on the bench. The old man opened it and handed me a racket, completely made of wood.

"A bit different to the ones you are used to playing with I believe." He said as he got one for himself. "Tell you what, if you beat me in this tennis game, I will answer all your questions." I smiled. What was this old man thinking?

"Fine." I agreed as I twirled the tennis racket in my hand. These rackets were heavier than the ones I'm used to playing with too, Ryoma thought.

"We judge ourselves, you don't mind, do you?" The old made said. He placed his pipe down on the bench and took off his dark green cloak.

"Not at all." I replied, holding a ball. I was to serve first. I hit the ball. To my surprise the old man was pretty fast into the court. He dashed after the ball with ease and hit it back.

"Drive A!" I yelled and hit the ball with more force than I intended. The ball made a '_tok' _sound as it whizzed across to the other side. The ball lazily bounced onto the other side. The old man hit it and that's where it all happened. I saw the ball for a split second and then it was gone. It wasn't like Fuji's vanishing ball returns; it was something different. It was almost like the ball was travelling at the speed of light.

Four hours later

I sat on the bench, breathing heavily, but not sweating. I had lost the match. Despite playing my best, it felt as if I was going really slow and needed more energy to get the ball over the net and the old man hit it effortlessly as if…this is going to sound crazy, but it was if, he was absorbing my energy from the ball into himself. I sat there and let the sunlight again warm me up. I closed my eyes and I suddenly felt cold. Snapping them open I looked up and saw dark purple clouds covering the sun. I turned to look for the old man. He was watching me on the other side of the tennis court.

Somehow I felt uneasy. As if the old man before wasn't the same now. I got up and headed for the exit.

"Going some where Ryoma?" He said in a monotone voice. He looked at me and I gasped in surprise, as his emerald pupils were no longer there. Only the whites of his eyes were visible. My heart picked up its pace, why was I scared? The old man walked towards me and I backed away, slowly. My body didn't want to cooperate. My breathing also increased. I was being pushed towards the fence of the tennis court. The clouds above me were getting darker. I glanced at the old man again, only to my surprise again, to find a young man in black robes. His hair was dark, like the pitch-black darkness I had escaped from. His hands stretched out and reached for my neck. His nails dug into my flesh as I yelled out in pain. I stared into his eyes and his locked into mine.

"You have to defeat me first, young Ryoma." His voice echoed into my mind. The air inside me was escaping and once again I returned to the darkness, without sight, without sound, without smell.

-

I woke up. Back into my room, back in Japan. I sighed in relief. It was just a dream, I though.

"More like a nightmare." I said to myself. I was good to hear my voice. I got up and peeked though the curtains. A giant orange fireball peeked though the horizon; indeed, it was the break of dawn. Sounds were to be heard downstairs. Heading to the bathroom, I got ready for school. After finishing all those sanitary activities, I headed downstairs and I found dad, attempting to make breakfast.

"Hey Ryoma," He said in a cheery voice. "What would you like for breakfast?" I walked past my dad and sat down.

"I don't know dad, seems to me, the eggs and bacon are on fire." I said casually. Crossing my legs.

"Whoa!" He yelled grabbing the frying pan and pouring water on it. The flames were extinguished quickly.

"How about I make breakfast next time." A voice said in the doorway. No doubt about it, mom found out about everything that goes on in the house.

"Honestly dear," mom said walking towards dad. "I really appreciate this and all, but if you don't want to burn the house down let me handle the cooking." I sighed. Mom knew how to quiet the situation down real fast.

"Mada Mada Dane [you've got a long ways to go]." I said getting up from my chair.

"Ryoma honey, don't you have a game today?" mom asked me. Turning I answered, "Yeah, but its no big deal or anything. It's more like a warm up" Dad came rushing.

"All right! Ryoma do your best! And don't lose!" Always so enthusiastic, I thought. Placing my cap on my head, I headed out.

"I gave up losing," I explained. "When I won against you in a game, I decided I'll never lose to anyone else." I opened the door and made my way to school.

I particularly like spring in Japan. It was much better than the American version of spring. Here there were beautiful rose pink cherry blossoms that would gracefully fall down from the trees above. The morning air was fresh and the roads were not so busy early in the morning. I do not usually like going early for meetings. Usually I try to sleep in as much as I can, but after dreaming what I did, I found it hard to go back to sleep. I shouldn't worry about these petty things, I thought to myself. Another half of my mind disagreed; it was too real to be a dream.

"HEY SHRIMP!" a voice called behind me. I turned to see Momo riding his bike towards me.

"Oh…hey!" I managed to say. Thanks to Momo, I was saved from thinking about the dream.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked as he caught up. He slowed down so he could match with my walking. I looked up to him.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, first of all you didn't hear me calling to you earlier and I had to yell out to you. And second, we have at least an hour before school starts. You're never here early, did something happen?" I blinked. Momo, always so caring for others, you wouldn't think so unless you really knew him.

"Not really and actually there are forty-five minutes until school." I scoffed.

"Why you…anyway it doesn't matter, say how about we get some exercise right now. I'll ride my bike, I wonder if you can beat me to school by running."

"Is that a challenge?" I asked.

"You bet."

"Fine, Go!" I said and sprinted away. I turned my head back to find Momo catching up.  
"Is that the best you got shrimp?" He bellowed.

"Heh!" I laughed, far from it!" and speed up. I was concentrating on Momo's challenge that I forgot all about the dream. That Momo, he really is a good friend. I saw the school gate ahead and to my dismay, I also saw the man in my dream, leaning against the gates. His eyes just as dark, and they were staring at me.

So that's chapter 1…don't know if it was good enough. This is my first Prince of Tennis fan fic, so please go light on it!!! Please also leave a review, it let's me know it people are enjoying the story…or not! ^_0 Hope you enjoyed it and I'll update soon!

-Itachianimefan.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 2: Stunned

I stopped just before the school gates, brushing the beads of sweat of my forehead. I blinked and he was still there. So it wasn't my imagination. I heard a screech of the brakes and realized that Momo had also stopped, beside me. He looked from the gates and then back to me, obviously wondering the reason I had stopped. But of course, he wouldn't understand because he was never in my dream.

"Hey shrimp." He said, looking back to me again. "Why the sudden stop?"

I turned to him, my eyes wide with fear and confusion. He blinked and got off his bike.

"Hey Shrimp! Ryoma! What's wrong little fellow?!" he voice was stern and serious now. He started to shake me, but I felt no impact. I was deep within myself. My eyes darted lastly to the man standing at the gate, his eyes dark with a faint tint of red. A splinting headache suddenly came and then, the strength within my body left. Momo caught me before I hit the ground. Why, why was this happening again?

-

I opened my eyes; the bright light from above temporarily blinded me and forced me to shut my eyes again. I heard someone dash and yell, "He's finally beginning to stir!" This time I was ready. I opened my eyes more carefully this time, as I knew the blinding light would welcome me once more. I let my eyes adjust and I looked around at my surroundings. Everything in here was pretty much white. The curtains, sheets and pillows, this was the school hospital.

In the distance a bell rang. Perhaps the bell indicating it was time for the next class to start. My eyes searched for a clock and I spotted it, above the doorway and it too was white. The black hands pointed to the ten and twelve. So it was ten o'clock, I've been out for four hours. The headache was still there, but not as bad. It tingled faintly inside my skull as I rubbed it. Turning my head to the right, I stared out onto the tennis courts. Some people were playing now, but not the tennis team. At least that was a relief. I decided to get out of bed, but as I moved my head, the pain soon returned. Sighing, I leaned back onto the bed. The soft cotton pillow cushioned my head.

"Hey, little guy!" Momo said walking through the curtain. I turned my head to face him.  
"Hey," I said. Momo sat down on the bed and looked at me. I could see that he was worried. Nothing like that ever happened to me before.

"So, are you okay? Do you need anything?" he asked. I shock my head, only to make the pain that was there worse.

"No," I said meekly. "I don't need anything." Momo looked somewhat relieved. "Hey," I said. "Don't look so worried, it makes wrinkles form on your forehead."

Surely this would lighten the mood. To my dismay, I looked at Momo and saw him cradling his head with his hands.

"I'm sorry little guy. It was all my fault and I feel so bad." Momo begin to explain. I stared at him, was he serious? He really thought that he caused me to collapse?

"I forced you to run and maybe you weren't ready. I mean, you weren't feeling that good this morning anyway. You shouldn't have pushed yourself." It was his turn to glare at me. "If you didn't feel well, then you should tell me!" he explained.

"Momo, you have it all wrong. It wasn't you or the running. It's just I stopped suddenly and I felt really dizzy, that's it okay? Now stop worrying and get back to class." I ordered. I thought for a bit before I spoke again. "You have math next, right? Do you want to fail that course because you missed a class visiting me? I mean I already beat you in tennis; you don't want that to be math as well. Please go, it feels as though I'm on my death bed." I finally got what I wanted. Momo's frown slowly curved into a small smile. It was faint, but sure enough, it was a smile. I sighed in relief; he was back to normal.

"Little squirt, like I would ever let you beat me in tennis and math!" He got up and headed to the door. He stopped on the doorway and turned to face me. "Just hurry up and get better, or we are going to lose this game." And with that, he left, the plain white curtain flapped as he walked away.

"Me lose in tennis?" I said to myself, "That's a first." I closed my eyes and fell into a light sleep.

-

"Ryoma! Ryoma!" voices called out to me, but I was so relaxed, I didn't want to open my eyes. No, I thought, just a little more. I want to sleep a little more.

"Ryoma." a single voice called out. I sighed. That voice was unmistakably the voice of the Kunimitsu Tezuka, the present captain of the tennis team. I opened my eyes slowly. I was surprised to see the whole tennis team in my ward. They all looked relieve as I woke up.

"Hey." I said plainly, looking at all of them. "Just how long were you guys here?"

"Not long." Shusuke Fuji said smiling. "You had us worried there for a moment."

"I know." I said. "Without me, the team wouldn't be able to win another tournament."

"Hey don't get cocky!" Momo said, patting my back a bit harder than I expected. I thought for a minute and realized that the pain in my head was no longer there.

"What time is it?" I asked. I tried to glace at the clock, but there were too many people around me that I had no hope of even getting a glimpse.

"It's two-thirty." Eiji announced, looking at Oishi's wristwatch. He glanced up at Ryoma. "You play in one hour Ryoma, do you think you can make it?"

I smiled.

"Of course," I scoffed. "This isn't going to prevent me from playing tennis!" slowly, I got out from bed and placed my feet on a white, warm carpet. I sat there for a few seconds, thinking, but then remembered that the whole team was watching my every move. Probably finding an excuse to prevent me from playing. I got up and walked around. I felt fine, in fact, from resting all day, I had extra energy to use up. I walked towards the doorway.

"I'm going to warm up guys, don't worry about me." I assured…and blinked. I stared at the group of tennis players. Their attention was fixed on the cards and chocolate that was left at my bedside. Honestly, it didn't take much to amuse them.

"Whoa, how come the little squirt gets all the candy? I mean when I was sick, I didn't receive squat!" Momo said, leaning over to take a closer look at my candy.

"Hey Ryoma, can we eat this?" Eiji said only to obtain being elbowed by Oishi. "Oww… I mean if you don't want it that is." Eiji corrected himself as he massaged the place where Oishi has elbowed him.

"Sure," I said bluntly, "I don't even like that type of candy." I turned and walked away from the excited group of teenagers, fighting for some chocolate.

"No Takashi, I want that one!" Eiji complained in the background.

"Eiji, calm down." Oishi's voice echoed through the hallway.

"The probability of this turning into a food fight is 62%." Sadaharu announced.

"Shut up, it's not like we care." Kaoru snapped back. I continued to walk, but couldn't help mutter "Mada Mada Dane." As I left, I began to concentrate. The hallways were pretty much deserted. There were a handful of students left, but they were heading out. They probably stayed because they had some club practice or meeting of some sort. I went down the stairs and hit the main floor. It was even more deserted. It was kind of creepy I had to admit. It was like one of those horror movies when you feel something is behind you and every time you look around, nothing is there.

Except something is there.

I didn't sense it at first, but some hairs at the back of my neck pricked up, as if trying to warn me of something. I turned around and as usual, nothing it there. I continue to walk. My footsteps were irregular as they somewhat echoed through the hallway. Suddenly I turned around again and I saw the person I suspected. The black haired guy I saw earlier at the gates and the same guy who appeared in my dreams. He was slender and tall. He also wore all black with a thin black cloak around him. Almost like a death god. This time though, I was ready. I don't know why, but I wasn't going to pass out like the last two times. This time it was going to be different. I'm going to find the reason why he is stalking me, and I'm going to put a stop to it.

I looked directly into his eyes. My head began to tingle a bit, but I ignored the insufficient pain. His eyes glared back at mine. They were pitch black, as if they dug further and further into his soul, into the pits of darkness. A smile made it's way up his face as he continued to stare at me. He crossed his arms and leaned on the doorway. He wore all black, a black fleece sweater and black dress pants.

"What do you want?" I demanded, "Who are you and how do you know me." I glanced at my watch again, and to my dismay, it was not present—just like in the dream.

"You won't find you watch there." He spoke in a deep tone, but it was gentle, like a father trying to explain to his son the reason he was in trouble. Probably by my perplexed expression he went on. "Right now, you are not present in time, or shall I say, you have been taken out of time. You're watch is gone, because right now, you are in a zone where time is not present and hence, cannot coexist with you." He explained.

"What are you talking about?" I answered back. "I'm in school and I'm about to play a tennis match. What you are saying is utter rubbish." I turned my back to him, only to find him in front of me again.

"You will not play today, Ryoma. I am your everlasting opponent and you have not seen the last of me until you defeat me."

"I WHAT?" I yelled. This was clearly pointless. He was wasting my time on his ideas of 'time'. I didn't have time to waste. If he wanted to fight me, then he'll have to come back later. "Sorry, I'm leaving." I turned around, only to find that he wasn't there. I felt a trickle of wetness run down as something cold itched against my throat.

The man looked down on me, his foul breath flowed down my neck as he gripped a shiny blade against my skin.

"You can't escape me." He sneered and vanished as if he didn't want to. I stood there, as if my body didn't want me to move. I blinked and I realized that for once in my life, I knew what true fear was. I wiped the beads of sweat of my forehead. How could I play tennis when I was in this condition? I glanced down at my wrist to see my silver watched glistening as if it was always there. I felt my neck and there was no cut, no blood was present.

This may have sounded crazy to everyone, but I knew that it was true. I knew that for some reason he disappeared and it wasn't on his own free will. Something else in the room had erased his presence, but what? A sense of dread ran over me, as I knew that he would return again. I had to get out of here. I know that everyone would be disappointed in me, but I had to cancel the tennis game. Angry with myself, I kicked my leg against the wall, only to realize that it brought more pain to myself. No, running away wasn't part of my ego. Tennis was my life and I wasn't going to lose because some mysterious guy threatened me. I would play, then I would go home and think. A lot.

I dressed in my tennis uniform and made my way to the tennis courts. A good size crowd was waiting in the stands. There were about 300 people surrounding the nets, talking to each other waiting for the next match to start. My match. I realized that for the whole time, I was tense. I breathed in and allowed my muscles to ease. I had to concentrate. Losing was not an option.

"Next up is Echizen verses…" The announcer said over the speakers. Ryoma zoned out. He didn't even catch whom he was playing against—all he knew that he had to win.

_'But you can't'_ his voice cracked in his head. _'You can't do anything while I'm still here.'_

"Damn you." I muttered under my breath. Anger rushed through me and I hit my first serve. I know it wasn't very wise, playing tennis was about concentration, not strong emotions like anger and hate. I somehow felt like this anger was from a long time ago, slowly building up inside of me.

"Reserve!" The umpire said to me. I tried to avoid everyone's eyes, especially my teammates. I breathed out and forced myself to concentrate.

"C'mon Ryoma! You can do it!" I turned around to see Sakuno cheering in the stands.

"Sakuno…" I whispered. Did she really have that much faith in me? Yes. I had to have faith in myself too. I can do this!

_'No you can't Ryoma.' The voice hissed. _

'Die.' I though back to the voice.

I raised the ball into the air and I blinked as my racket smashed the ball. The ball flew over the net to the other side and as my opponent desperately tried to return the ball, his racket flew out of his hands. Everyone was quiet and looked up, but wasn't because I smashed the ball over the net, it was because _he_ was standing in the middle of the court, smiling, with a gun pointed directly at my forehead.

_ Well that's it for now, I know, sorry, but I love to leave chapters in suspense! Review please! It encourages me to write despite my laziness. That's for waiting, I really appreciate it! From,_

_Itachianimefan _


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Prince of Tennis. Please also note that though this is a Japanese manga, I have purposely dropped the formality of the Japanese culture and have chosen to call them by their given name. I know it's wrong ***shame*, **but it's a habit, maybe because I'm Canadian, eh? ^-^ Sorry, I just though I should apologize because readers have pointed it out. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3:

Have you ever walked into a party room and everyone is talking and having fun, but as soon as you step foot into the room everyone and everything goes silent? Dead silent? Well that's just want happened today—except the attention wasn't at me, it was the man standing in front of me. At first I noticed only the man himself, but then I realize that he was holding a gun. Then the screams came and of course it was chaos. People, hundreds of people were trying to get out of the tennis court, they just wanted to go home, but amidst all this an invisible force held people bad from their seats. Some began to cry, others try to call the police, but as I guessed, they were not in a place where time existed so they could receive no connections on their cell phones. The man looked around calmly and smiled, his black eyes finally rested on me.

"Please do not be afraid," He spoke quietly, but everyone could tell it was an order, not a request. He took a step towards me. "My name is Katsunori and I do not wish to hurt anyone." He blinked and looked around the stadium, but my eyes locked into the person in front of me. "I have one person whom would interest me at the moment." I unconsciously stepped back.

"Ryoma Echizen, the prophecy that came to be." He said, placing his hand on his forehead. "Do you know what it means to find you?" His black eyes pierced mine.

"W-What do you mean _prophecy_?" I asked, clearly confused. He smiled evilly and slightly lowered his gun.

"Of course, it was meant to be hidden from you, your real secret, of what you really are." He spoke coolly. "You cannot be realized unless I kill the human you, Ryoma." He said lifting his gun up again. "I have to do it, for your sake, Ryoma…Ryoma-sama." He added. And what was I to do? I was stuck there in shock. Prophecy of what? Why did he want to kill me? I blinked and I saw his index finger pull the trigger. This was it; this was the end of my life, my tennis career. Blood squirted into the air and I lifted my arm to feel the wound where the bullet had hit me, only to find that there was no wound. I looked in front of me and Karou lay on the ground.

"K-Karou?" I gasped. "HEY KAROU!!" I yelled bending down.

"Hey (cough) I'm not dead…it just got my shoulder." He panted, as the trickle of blood continued. I applied pressure to the wound.

"Why Karou, are you and idiot or something? Did you think I couldn't look after myself?" I scoffed so the tears wouldn't flow. It must seem foolish of me. For a boy to cry, but…Karou…he was my friend. Out of everyone on the team, it was probably Karou who couldn't accept me, but I guess, that's what brought our distant friendship, not so distant.

"Sure…I mean (cough) you were just standing there." He managed to say, with his eyes closed.

"Ahhh…." Katsunori said. "I missed, pity really. I mean, I only had one bullet in there." He explained and placed his gun away. "However, there are more than one way to kill a person is there not?" He asked me, as he walked closer. Karou tired to move, but he had lost too much blood. With a grunt he slid into unconsciousness. "You're very lucky Ryoma, to have a friend who would give their life for yours. I'm even surprised he could escape my powers of confinement." He sneered. I gasped. Not because I was scared or confused, but because, I finally remembered who this man was. I had seen him in American, as he went to my previous school, but I never really talked to him, or noticed him very much for that matter. So why follow me here?

"You're—" I began, remembering everything now. Katsunori smiled.

"Ah yes, you remember now Ryoma." He asked.

"But…" I wondered how he could stop time.

"Let me explain Ryoma. A short while after you left, I admired your ability to play tennis. If fact, so admired that I began to play myself. But I wasn't like you, I could never be. I mean I would have to live another lifetime to become someone as good as you. I was always a klutz and everyone made fun of me and though I pretended that it didn't bother me—it did. Every one of those hurtful comments." He narrowed his eyes. "And you…you didn't even notice me. You just walked past me in the halls without even looking at me. You were just like everyone else."

"Sorry, I didn't know you had feelings for me. You should have told me, you know?" I sighed. This was obviously this was going to make him more upset.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled. "You think that you're better than me. Well I was going to prove you wrong. I was going to be a better tennis player than you because you don't even deserve that talent! You take it for granted! And then…" He broke off and smiled. "I died. I got run over by a bus after my tennis practice because I was so tired. And you know what? No one in my school cared. They didn't even cry. And so I swore that I would stay on earth for, as long it would take me to get my revenge. So here I am. This is the happiest moment in my life, Ryoma."

"Wait…you're dead?" I managed to say. This was by far the most awkward experience I…well ever experience. Talking to a dead guy, not really on my 'to do' list. A flash of white appeared on Katsunori's face. "That's right." He answered back. "So there's no way you can kill me…I'm practically immortal." I pondered about this for some time now. So he was a dead guy who used to go to my old school. Well he did have some skill, being invisible because I barely remember him myself. Actually, I'm actually surprised I did remember him. So what now? A human fighting ghosts? Nope that doesn't work too well. I blinked and sighed…yep there was just one option left.

"Okay…Katsunori. How about if we play a tennis game against each other?" I immediately saw his face had lightened up—if you could even describe it like that. Let's just say that he was a bit gray instead of that gothic blackness I usually saw. "If I win, you'll let everyone go and disappear forever. But if you win…you can take my life."

"Ha. Ha! Ryoma, I don't think that you are in the position to gamble anything." Katsunori said and I knew something along the lines of that was coming. Well…I had a back up plan.

"Yeah, I know, but wouldn't you feel more…I don't know better? Like you'd bet me at tennis and you'll take my life. Sounds pretty rewarding to me, don't you think so?" I watched as Katsunori pondered about this offer. I could tell he was having a hard time not accepting it. I knew after his explanation that tennis was his passion and this was the time to show his love for the game. Of course, I also knew that I would win.

"Fine." Katsunori said after a minutes thought. "I'll play you."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" I asked him, I couldn't take any chances. Katsunori took out a pocketknife and made a small cut in this index finger. He then took out a piece of ancient yellow paper and allowed three drops of blood to drip unto the page. He then looked up at me and handed me the knife and paper.

"This is a scroll of the death gods. It is used to create a pact with a human and a ghost. It is very powerful and will obey the restrictions that will be written onto it. You must also put three droplets of you blood on the page to allow the pact to be sealed. Once sealed, there cannot be any exceptions, so write out what you want very carefully. When you are done, hand back the page to me" Katsunori explained, wrapping a ripped piece of cloth around his finger. I did as he told me and handed the stuff back to him. Immediately the sky turned dark and cloudy. The wind was blowing debris into my eyes. A racket appeared in Katsunori's hand. Thick, gold and it didn't look real. Could it be that this wasn't going to be a fair game? Could be his racket had powers as well? Well I couldn't think about this anymore, because he was ready. The game was about to begin. The game that would decide my life—and everyone else's as a matter of fact. I just hoped the gods were on my side.

Please also leave a review. I would appreciate it very much. It makes me feel great when people leave them and it gives me motivation to continue writing. Without them, I would have quit this and many other stories a while back. I'll try to update soon, but that's not a promise, you know with exams and all. Thanks once again to my supporters!

**-Itachianimefan**

P.S The next chapter is the finale!!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Prince of Tennis. Please also note that though this is a Japanese manga, I have purposely dropped the formality of the Japanese culture and have chosen to call them by their given name. I know it's wrong ***shame*, **but it's a habit, maybe because I'm Canadian, eh? ^-^ Sorry, I just though I should apologize because readers have pointed it out. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4:

I stood opposite to Katsunori, my racket loosely in my hand. This was the moment of truth. The tension was building up in the atmosphere around me. Karou lay on the bench with the rest of my teammates looking after him. Shusuke preformed first aid on him and bandaged him up—for the time being. But then again, everyone already knew he had lost too much blood. Every minute we waited put his life in more danger. Why was I being so selfish? Why couldn't I just play and take him on? Because I wanted to know about the prophecy.

"You said something about the prophecy." I stated holding a green tennis ball in my hand—I was to serve first. Katsunori, loosing his grip stood up and looked at me with amusement.

"Yes. You're right. I haven't told you about that part yet." He stroked his long spider fingers through his pitch-black hair. He walked a bit closer and then began to explain himself. It seemed he enjoyed talking so much.

"The strong will on my own wouldn't allow me to stay on earth—even if I wanted to with all my heart. You see? And then I met a death assistant. He wanted you, and so did I. It was perfect don't you see that? It was like killing two birds with one stone shall you say. I was to find you, for his purpose and for mine. You were the claimed 'prophecy' and you were also my nemesis."

"Well, what does the god want with me?" I asked, still a bit perplexed. Then the amusement in his eyes changed to a sudden coldness.

"I could care less about what he wants with you because I'm going to kill you." He sneered; the blackness in his eyes was like death staring back. "Now, serve." He said, no, more like ordered me to. Reluctantly, I obeyed. It wasn't the fact I was scared, it was that fact he was scary. He wasn't human; he was a ghost, living in the human world because of his revenge. If you were in this situation, you'd be pretty nervous too. And also he had the golden racket. I'm not a genius; I have Shusuke and Tezuka for that, but I could tell that something magical was in that racket and that because of that, I knew was going to lose.

"You look like you're scared." He sneered at me at the opposite end of the court, watching me with everlasting darkness. Could this really have been from not noticing him?

"I'm not." I said coolly, "I never lose, mind you." I said this with confidence more to ease myself than to scare him.

"We shall see." He lifted the ball and smashed it with brute force through the air, a normal enough serve. Moving with thinking, I hit the ball back, doing a cool drive back—the ball went out. I glanced towards him, and he smiled back.

"Do you feel different Ryoma?" he asked mockingly. Startled by his comment, I blinked. No, I felt the same right after I make a smash drive what did he—and that's when I felt it. It was a small feeling, but surely it was there. A sense of evil growing in me—burning me from inside out. I wanted to yell out, but no sound escaped my lips. Gripping my stomach, I bowed down. I could hear his laughter, filled with so much envy and hate.

"How does it feel, Ryoma? Tell me, to have so much pain surging through your body? I'll tell you how I feel, I feel great. I almost want to die with so much happiness."

"Yeah." I gasped. "That's what you call a weirdo." I answered, but the pain prevented me from saying anything else. Looking at the ground, I saw Katsunori's racket fall to the ground and saw his feet move closer to me.

"You should be feeling afraid by now." He warned. "You see, because I wasn't joking when I said I was going to kill, you. I'm going to make you suffer. You see?" He said pointing at me. "You'll be under my power now." His pitch black eyes began to glow. And my skin, which burned, began to turn black.

"Gah." I muttered, tying to stand, but it was useless; I was pinned down to the ground like a wounded animal. The pain that surged through me was too immense. Tears uncontrollably flowed from my tears. I could hear voices all around me filled with worry and concern, but I couldn't make out the words, not the mention to whom the voices belonged. I wanted to die, to just sink away from this pain. I didn't even understand half of what was going on. And then when all this darkness was taking over me, I was in a field, with tall grasses and wild flowers. Trees could be seen in the distance and not a single person was in sight. A gentle wind brushed over my face, causing my tears to vanish. I blinked and walked forward, cautiously, waiting to see if there would be any pain. None. I was a bit content and continued to walk on. But I had no idea where to walk. There were just fields and fields of wilderness—flowers, trees and animals. It seemed almost fantasy-like.

"Ryoma." A voice faintly said. I turned around to see the source of the voice, but to my disappointment, there was nothing. I stared around again and again, but there was no one there. I began to run, for no apparent reason; I just wanted to see if this really was a never-ending valley. I stopped, bending over and breathing heavily. I didn't know how long I had been running, since my watch again, was not visible. I glanced up to see a castle with dark ominous clouds covering it, as if it was protecting it.

"What kind of place is that?" I asked myself, since I had no one else to talk to.

"It is a place on for those of the deceased, of those who are powerful enough to penetrate the poisonous clouds." The voice explained. I turned around as fast as my body could and stared face to face with myself.

"What?" I hissed.

"Fear not, I am not you." The copy of myself said and then began to turn shape.

"A…Shape shifter?" I said and then shock my head. What was I saying? Shape shifter? Since when were they real? The person before me now was a young beautiful woman, wearing a kimono.

"Now what are you?" I snapped, not intentionally, but the pain from before were beginning to return.

"This is my true form and I was a goddess." She said in a pure voice, which flooded through my ears like music. "Sorry for the inconvenience of your worldly pains returning, but I didn't anticipate that it would take you so long to get here. Then again, I would take on 10 minutes, in human time for a goddess such as me to arrive here, while it took you…" She thought, "almost an hour."

"So, it was my fault!?" I asked. She blinked and then smiled.

"Of course not. I was not able to talk to you until you came close enough to the castle."

"What do you want?"

"I'm sure you've encountered Katsunori, the worthless human that was resurrected by another goddess, and my nemesis, Sonjo." She explained. I wished she would hurry up; the pain was increasing. "It was a disgrace to all of the god-like here in the afterlife, though at the time, no one knew—at least that's what she thought. However, I was watching her closely, for other reasons and I found out. She did the one thing that was not allowed, she brought a human back to life." Her eyes hardened and looked away. "Sonjo is to be executed after I explained to the right authorities what had occurred."

"He said I was the prophecy." I said, the words just appeared in my mind.

"Ah yes." She said amused. "I'm glad you heard about that." She walked over to me. "You are the prophecy that must kill Katsunori, as he is immortal. However, you have special abilities to kill even that of the immortals because you are the prophecy." A joy leapt through me.

"I can kill him? That's great because he's been a pain. How? When? Can I do it now?" I was so eager.

"The process alone is simple. You must," She said while she reached into her kimono and pulled out a gold arrow. "Pierce this into his heart. It will not be hard, despite the fact if you are an excellent archer or not. The arrow will be attacked to his heart anyway. For his soul is not real. It does not fit into the world of humans. However, with any good thing comes a price."

"A price?" I asked. What could it be? Money?

"That's right. The price that is required to have this arrow and to kill Katsunori, an immortal is…your life." She stared into my eyes.

"My life? Like all of it?" I asked. She looked at me as if I was asking a stupid question.

"Yes, your life, meaning that after the task is done you will be dead within half an hour. I don't care what your concerns are; you must kill him because we don't know the next time another prophecy will appear on earth! This is important. You life is nothing compared to the power an immortal can achieve within a year. Yet alone eternity. He may be stronger than what the gods can handle." She paused. "As a reward, you will be granted to live in this castle a may be trained to become a god yourself."

"But…I don't know."

"Think about it quickly. Katsunori's hate pulses throughout Earth, tearing the core of it slowly. It will only be a matter of time before Earth falls apart and those 6 million people live in it will die."

I didn't look at her. I knew the answer even before she answered my question. I had to take his life; despite the fact my life will be taken. I was for the better good.

"I'll do it."

"Good. Your time here is almost up. Here." She threw the arrow towards me and I caught it. Instantly I felt my life being consumed on. Like sometime small started feasting inside my body.

"Urh." I said, bending down.

"Yes." She said walking away. "You'll feel that pain until the job is done." Fading rapidly, she turned around and smiled weakly. "Thank you Ryoma, that is all I can say." And then she vanished. Well, I don't know what was going to happen, but I know one thing, I had to get this job over with. My life, it was going to be extinguished soon. My tennis career would be over. Father will be disappointed. Mother, she'll cry. What about my friends? Would Karou be okay? Will they remember me? All those people I met. It would be a shame to let them go, but it would be worst to let them all die because of my fear of dying. Gripping the arrow with anger I slowly gained my senses and the pain. I was on the ground, my arms were now black and I was on the tennis court, back to Earth with Katsunori.

"Oh Ryoma? Is that all you have? Are you done now…hmm…maybe I should kill you off now? Yes…that would be a good idea."

"NO RYOMA GET UP!" Sakuno yelled.

"Ryoma" Shusuke began.

"Hey!" Momo yelled.

"It's not use, you can't move." He sneered at them.

"Damn. No. Ryoma!" Karou huffed. "Don't let this pain go to waste!" Yes. He was right. I made enough people suffer and it was time to end it. End it all. Using all the strength I had left, I shot up and threw the arrow. Katsunori grinned, but then realized what had happened.

"You." He started but the arrow pierced his heart and he began to disintegrate.

"Go back to the dead," I sneered. "Back to where you belong." And then I fell on the ground. No pain was felt. Right. I was going to the castle.

I stood above the church watching my friends and my family cry over my dead body. Hovering above the air, I was filled with pity for them, for they did not know that I was alive, in a way.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as my mother hung over my coffin and cried her eyes out. I wondered if there even was a body in there. I was told; by the goddess that they instantly replaced my body with a fake and that it was Momo who felt my pulse, only to not find it at all. Poor guy, what must he have felt when that happened? I glanced down and saw Momo, angrily whipping the tears from his eyes. And Shusuke, Tetsuka, and even Karou, hung their heads low. Damn. And there was nothing I could do. I stayed there until the service was over and then floated outside.

"Ryoma." A voice called out. My eyes widened when I saw Sakuno looking straight at me. I blinked.

"Can you see me?"

"What are you doing Sakuno? Whom are you talking to?" Her friend asked her with a tissue. She looked up again and sighed.

"Nothing." She said as tears rolled down her eyes. "Nothing."

Watching all my friends leave I floated up to the castle, where the execution would take place.

~~Fifty years later~~

Everyone I knew had grown old. I watched them day-by-day. Some people from way back when had become famous tennis players and I was so proud of them. Some married, some didn't. But I stood by them, though they didn't know it. It hurt to see the pain in their eyes when my name was mentioned. It hurt, but I accepted it. I had not grown a single year and probably, that was the most painful thing. I would continue to live forever when my friends and everyone I knew would die. This was the fate no one would have predicted. It was what the fate that turned out to be.

The end ^_^

Please also leave a review. I would appreciate it very much. It makes me feel great when people leave them and it gives me motivation to continue writing. Without them, I would have quit this and many other stories a while back. Maybe I'll write another Prince of Tennis story…depends of the reviews! ^_- Thanks once again to my supporters!

**-Itachianimefan**


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